Posts Tagged mobile payments

Wearables are big, so it’s hardly a surprise wireless carriers want in on the action. (Insert joke about mobile payments and ISIS here.) AT&T announced today that it will begin offering the LG G Watch as an “accessory” in the coming weeks, presumably when the device launches in brick-and-mortar stores early next month.

Strangely, AT&T made no mention of the Samsung Gear Live – LG may have signed some sort of exclusivity deal. And the carrier isn’t taking preorders.

Still, it’s possible a presence on the shelves of AT&T stores will help persuade people to buy G Watches.

With KitKat, Google introduced host card emulation (HCE) as a means to get around needing access to a secure element, which would allow Google Wallet and other potential mobile payment options to work on devices running Android 4.4, regardless of what US carriers wanted. So far, Google Wallet has been the only app to take advantage of this, but today both Visa and MasterCard have announced support for NFC payments with Google’s newly introduced methods.

It won’t let you ditch your plastic cards just yet, but it does mean that both companies will likely be pushing for mobile payment options from banks and retailers, which has been the other major roadblock in standardizing NFC payments. Visa has updated their payWave options to support HCE, and MasterCard plans on releasing tools for enabling HCE payments in the first half of the year.

When it comes to mobile payments, we’ve long been frustrated by the lack of utility. Google Wallet has been blocked in favor of other services like Isis, with many credit card companies wary of the service altogether. Using KitKat’s new Host Card Emulator feature, both Visa and Mastercard are ready to make mobile payments happen in a big way.

The key here is emulation. With older methods for NFC payment, the rub was always a device’s secure element, which kept the card information locked away on the device itself. Carriers questioned it’s security, while other companies were just not willing to let a mobil device house sensitive information.

With Host Card Emulation via Android KitKat, card companies like Visa or Mastercard can keep our data stored remotely, in their own cloud storage solution. By utilizing an API called “Visa Ready Program”, Visa is set to allow any app that wants to use their system of mobile payment to do so. Say you want to go to Walgreens to pick up some odds and ends; if their app uses the Visa Ready Program API, then you can pay via the app without having to utilize Wallet or other services at all.

Another setback for mobile payments has been point-of-sale. Many card swipe machines, though they have the ability to do so, simply aren’t set up for NFC or mobile payments. Without a direction forward, retailers were reluctant to make it happen on their end. Hopefully, this helps toward that end.

Now that a KitKat build for the Galaxy Note 3 has leaked, people have started reporting new things that they’re finding. Though most of the major features of Google’s latest Android version are present, the “tap and pay” option is conspicuously absent. Further, it appears host card emulation has been disabled altogether. This is curious given the fact that Isis Mobile Wallet, which is partially backed by AT&T and nowhere to be found on the official Android 4.3 builds, is preinstalled on the leaked firmware.

If you’ve been waiting to make NFC payments with little more than your iPhone and an Isis account, we have news for you. A tipster sent us pictures of what looks to be retail packaging for the Incipio Cashwrap, along with supposed pricing information. The Cashwrap enables secure mobile payments via a micro-NFC chip and a mobile app and it’ll be available from AT&T for $70 according to our reader, with variants for most of Apple’s recent smartphones. What’s more, this info aligns nicely with what 9to5Mac learned about the product at CES 2013. Our source says that the case is already in AT&T’s inventory too, meaning technically you could buy one right now, but you probably shouldn’t press your luck until there’s an official announcement. Unlike Incipio’s other iPhone protector, it looks like this one will see the light of day. We’ve reached out to AT&T, Incipio and Isis and will update this post if we hear back.

Boku, a mobile billing platform, has teamed up with Passport Parking to provide users the ability to pay for parking via SMS. Simply by pulling into a space and texting the number provided, your cell phone bill will reflect any parking charges you incur.

The program is not yet available to everyone, as trials are being conducted in various cities. No major metropolitan area is currently being tested — Denver is the largest city in the trial — so it’s unclear just how far-reaching this will be. It’s also limited to those cities with Passport Meters, which looks to be a wholly different program than the normal pay-to-park we’re used to.

The way it works is fairly simple, even if it doesn’t reach you yet. Drivers pull into a spot, and text the number displayed (probably on signs throughout the structure/lot) with your space number. It asks for authentication to prove it’s you, and you’re on your way. What we still don’t quite know is if it’s open billing, or if you pay for a determined amount of time.

However it ends up working — if it does — SMS could be the best option for mobile payments. With Google Wallet still floundering, and other mobile solutions like Isis creeping out, something as simple as SMS works for everyone. Boku currently works with big names such as EA and Facebook, but we hope that doesn’t mean we have to “Like” our parking space, too.

Google Wallet has had its share of troubles. First carriers refused to include it, citing security concerns. Payment centers were hard to come by as well, with many point-of-sale terminals supporting NFC payments, but not Wallet. Now there is news that with the update to Android, Google Wallet may be shifting gears, or disappearing altogether.

With the Nexus 7’s inclusion of Broadcom NFC hardware came the inability to use some legacy NFC tags. It also meant that Google Wallet was being left out, as Broadcom lacked the necessary element to store payment options, like credit card data. According to one Redditor who dug through the leaked LG service manual for the Nexus 5, the same can be said for the upcoming Nexus flagship phone.

It’s doubtful that Google will drop Wallet support, considering they use it for Play Store purchases and have recently rolled out the ability to send money via email using Wallet. What isn’t clear is how this will affect Wallet on mobile devices, moving forward. A recent update supports Wallet’s move from NFC with the secure element, but there is no indication it’s being accepted by more retailers.

The security concern for carriers was that element present on the older NFC chips which stored the payment information. Now that it’s gone, we wonder if Wallet will serve as a funnel for other services, or forge a new path in mobile payments. A recent patent filing by Google for mobile payments without the secure element suggests they’re sticking with Wallet for the foreseeable future.

There may be five billion people with mobile phones in the world, but most of them don't have a credit card. Systems and software than can help users turn cash into digital goods are sorely needed. That means things like carrier billing, which turns out to be a great way for developers to make some revenue. Fortumo is at the Samsung Developers Conference and we had a chance to talk to them about it all.

We tend to always think of the way things work in the west, but as Tarvo explains, in areas like South East Asia or Russia, carrier billing is actually the preferred method of paying for our digital purchases.

Fortumo can help developers make money all over the world. If you're a developer, drop by their website and give them a look.

Want to find a nifty use for the fingerprint sensor on the Pantech Vega LTE-A? Well, thanks to the hard work of two South Korean companies, it’s picking up the ability to pay for goods by authenticating with your fingerprint. This news comes from Danal, a mobile payment provider, which tapped the fingerprint technologies of Crucialtec to create the BarTong app. While the concept of fingerprint-based payments isn’t entirely new, it’s claimed to be an industry first for the mobile phone. The BarTong app is currently exclusive to South Korea, but its creator is looking to expand the payment service into the US and China. Naturally, Danal may want to hold off until fingerprint readers become more widespread in smartphones, but we certainly won’t fault the company for being ambitious.

Near Field Communication or NFC-based mobile payments might start showing up over counters anywhere and everywhere as Isis starts rolling out its Mobile Wallet system nationwide later this year. Isis is a mobile commerce joint venture created by T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T to implement a system for tap-to-pay and redemption transactions at counters.

Isis started a trial run last October in Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas, partnering with Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. The trial was considered a success, prompting Isis to make plans to expand their coverage nationwide. Research group Aite Group estimates that by the end of the year, 1.3 million stores will have mobile payment systems.

Data gathered from the trial run showed that use of the Isis Mobile Wallet averaged more than 10 per month. Most of the transactions were made in cafes, gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores, and quick service restaurants. Isis CEO Michael Abbott promised to incorporate the feedback from the test into the next generation of the Isis Mobile Wallet, which is set for national availability later this year.

Users need an NFC-enabled Android smartphone as well as a SIM-based “security element” to be able to use the Isis Mobile Wallet system. Currently, only a total of 35 devices from the three joint-venture carriers are certified as “Isis Ready”, with more to follow. Phones running iOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry 10 will eventually also be supported in the near future.

Though companies like Visa and Device Fidelity have already come up with a way to make NFC payments via microSD card, the SD Association (the standardization body for SD cards) has introduced a spec that opens up that ability to others. It essentially adds the single wire protocol (SWP) as a Secure Element to enable NFC authorizations like mobile payments and identity verification. Now that any of its members can implement the standard to their microSD cards, perhaps some day we can truly replace our wallets with our phones. We’ve included the press release and a short video demo after the break if you feel like understanding the tech a little better.

The FTC held a workshop on mobile payments last year, and it’s now followed that up with a full report that raises a few concerns and offers some recommendations for the industry. Those include the expected issues of privacy and security, which the FTC encourages companies to step up their efforts on, as well as the issue of billing disputes. On that latter front, the FTC draws attention to one problem in particular known as “cramming,” in which companies or individuals place fraudulent charges on a user’s cellphone bill. As the FTC notes in the report, “there are no federal statutory protections governing consumer disputes about fraudulent or unauthorized charges placed on mobile carrier bills,” and it further adds in a blog post that “the way mobile carrier billing works makes this a challenging problem to solve.” It goes on to outline some consumer protection measures it says all carriers should adopt, and notes that it will further address the issue at a roundtable on May 8th. You can find the full report at the source link.

We’ve seen the Bump app evolve from just a way to transfer contacts to a version that allows for mobile payments and one that lets you share photos between your phone and your computer. Now the company has expanded its feature set to transferring files of all kinds, be they photos, videos or Word documents. Simply enable the location feature in your browser, tap the files you want to move over, slap that spacebar button with your phone and the files will be on their way. They’ll actually head over to Bump’s servers and not your desktop, but you can still easily download them if you so choose. The updated app is available on iOS and Android today, so you can start bumping your files over right now.

The title of this post may be a bit of a stretch. Truth be told, I do like the idea of mobile payments, specifically Google Wallet. But in my case, Verizon isn’t playing nicely so that sort of rules that option out. Truthfully though, NFC is about much more than mobile payments. In fact, I would argue that even if I had Google Wallet on my Galaxy S III, that would probably be the least used NFC related feature.

You see, mobile payments may attract quite a bit of the NFC related attention, however there are plenty of other use cases. For this post, I will concentrate on two — sharing of files and automation. More specifically, sharing using S Beam and automation using TecTiles. There are other options available, especially in the form of NFC tags, however given I use a Samsung device — that is where my experience comes from. Not to mention, given the recent reports telling us how popular Samsung is at the moment, we suspect more than a few others have Galaxy devices in hand.

Beginning first with the sharing. You may remember some Samsung commercials touting this feature. They seemed silly and sort of cheesy at the time, but after putting that to use — it has proved wonderful. This one is rather simple, assuming both devices have the NFC and S Beam setting turned on — open the file you want to share, hold the two phones together and then “touch to beam.” Personally, this comes in handy for sharing everything from music or video files to images and even links. Sure, you can always email files, however once you are familiar with this method of sharing, sending an email to a person sitting in the same room will feel silly.

The other item is the automation, something that I am more than a bit obsessed with. I want features on or off depending on where I happen to be at the moment. What better way to get those settings adjusted than to do it with fewer taps. I should point out that I also use a few other apps for this, one called Silence and one called Atooma. Those aside, the Samsung TecTiles work wonders. I have a tile on the light switch in my office. This one is pretty simple, it will make sure my phone is on vibrate so I am not disturbed with a ringing phone while working. I also use a tile in my car. This one does three things, it turns my Bluetooth on, turns my Wi-Fi off and launches Slacker. All items that I want and/or need in the car.

Of course, sharing and automation are just two examples of what can be done. The moral of the story is that if you happen to think of NFC as only being associated with mobile payments, you may want to give it another thought. We are also a bit curious, is anyone using NFC on a regular basis? If so, what are your use cases?

You may not be very familiar with mFoundry’s name, but you’ll probably know its work if you’re reading this site: it’s part of a deal with MasterCard for NFC-based mobile payments, powers many banking apps and wrote the earliest mobile app code for Starbucks. As such, it’s no small deal that payment giant FIS just bought full control of mFoundry for $120 million. FIS isn’t shy about its aims and sees mFoundry as the ticket to covering a mobile banking space that’s growing quicker than other fields. Not that mFoundry will necessarily feel like a pawn — its audience potentially grows to the 14,000 banks that FIS has for customers. We’ll just need to wait until after the deal closes later in the current quarter to see what the union will bring.

With entities like Square and Paypal taking over the mobile payments scene it’s hard for new competitors to break in, but Groupon is looking to improve its chances by bringing Groupon Payments to its Groupon Merchants app for Android. The service allows merchants to accept credit card payments in an easy and secure fashion through the use of a 3.5mm-based card swiper.

The service can be activated within a matter of minutes via your Android device, and aside from the big feature discussed above users can also look forward to improved analytic data, namely the ability to view live transaction history, check daily sales reports, track deposits to external bank accounts and analyze revenue trends.

Groupon Merchants users are subject to a charge of 15 cents plus 1.8% (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) or 3% (American Express) of the bill for each transaction made, standard rates for a service like this. You’ll be paying for the convenience of being able to accept payments with a mobile device, something that’s oft-desired for many different types of businesses (food truck owners, rejoice!).

Of course, as we mentioned before, Square and PayPal offer competitive rates and advantages of their own so if you haven’t already settled on a service then these three are worth putting head to head in order to carefully scrutinize the advantages and disadvantages of each. Head here for more information on Groupon Merchants and see if it’s right for you and your needs. Read on for full press details.

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) announced the release of the newest version of the Groupon Merchants app for Android (v2.2), which incorporates Groupon Payments into the platform, offering merchants a better way to accept credit cards at the guaranteed lowest overall rates. Groupon merchants with Android devices who sign up for Groupon Payments will enjoy a fast, intuitive experience capable of fulfilling their everyday credit card processing needs.

Groupon merchants with Android devices may now enjoy the following benefits:
•Hassle-Free Enrollment – Activate the service within minutes
•Comprehensive Features – Use the Groupon Merchants app to enter bill totals, add tips, apply taxes, process refunds and email customer receipts
•Dependable Service – Backed 7-days-a-week by a dedicated Groupon Payments support team reachable by phone and email
•Security – Encrypted credit card information keeps customer data safe
•Analytics – Payments information is seamlessly available through the online Payments Center where merchants can view live transaction history, check daily sales reports, track deposits to their bank account and analyze revenue trends
•ROI Tracking – Groupon Merchants can scan and redeem customer Groupons and monitor tips and additional spending to track the success of their deal

“We’re thrilled to bring the powerful features of the Groupon Merchants app and the cost savings and convenience of Groupon Payments to more merchants with smart phones,” said Gene Alston, General Manager of Groupon Payments. “This app is an effective tool for merchants looking to process payments and track customer growth.”

Merchants interested in learning more about Groupon Payments can visit https://www.grouponworks.com/merchant-solutions/payments or call (888) 961-1511 to speak with a representative. The Groupon Merchants app is available for download in the Google Play Shop. Merchants with iPhones can download the Groupon Merchants app in the iPhone App Store.

The guarantee of lowest possible rates is only available to Groupon merchants located in the United States. Merchants must provide proof of current third-party rates for identical services. Participation is subject to the terms of the Groupon Payments Merchant User Agreement, which may modify or discontinue the guarantee and the underlying services at any time. The guarantee is void where prohibited by law.

Bango, a mobile payments and analytics company, works with carriers (and other companies) as a middle-man to help set up payment systems and has now started offering Google Play billing as well. Carrier billing for items on Google Play is something that many carriers around the world are looking to get involved with. It's not always practical (or profitable) at the start to get it set up, however. Effectively outsourcing the payment processing and setup to another company makes sense for many companies out there trying to get into this game.

The first carrier on board with Bango for their mobile payments is Telstra in Australia. Given some of the big names that Bango currently does business with, we could see more carriers rolling out Google Play carrier billing with them soon. You can check out the full press release after the break.

NFC chips are pretty standard these days in smartphones, unless you own a device that begins with a lowercase “i.” As far as we are concerned, NFC is the future of sharing and mobile payments, two things we care deeply about as mobile enthusiasts. For the most part, phones come with NFC disabled until you [...]

Earlier this year, we have heard a lot of news suggesting companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple are diving headfirst into mobile payment system. The apparent reason for this is because this sector is predicted to become a multi-billion dollar industry by year 2016. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I tell that smartphones would be the fuel for the growth of this industry; without smartphones, there wouldn’t be mobile payment system, obviously.

Most recent predictions suggest that by 2017, at least, 2 billion smartphones are capable of doing NFC transactions including mobile payments. Research firm, ABI Research, predicted earlier this year that an estimated 80 million NFC-enabled smartphones would be shipped this year. But it raised the bar to 120 million after surveys revealed that 9 out of 10 OEMs manufacture devices that support Near Field Communication technology.

ABI Research believes in 2013, NFC enablement will get out of “trial phase” and would be ready for full-blown services. While many would think NFC’s main function is to power mobile payment systems, they’re partially wrong. There are more services near-field communication technology can offer than just mobile payment, however, it is the latter that majority of big companies are into right now.

“NFC inclusion into devices other than handsets shows market development and an understanding that NFC will be more than payments. Added value will be provided through the enablement of convenient online/offline authentication, retail and loyalty applications, reader functionality, AFC, and advertising as a host of value added opportunities presented to service providers from which they can draw new revenue streams,” ABI Research said in a post on website.

Furthermore, Google and Microsoft are two of the few companies that are aggressively pursuing the leadership in the technology but it seems the latter has the upper hand. While Apple said it would also be engaging into the mobile payment system, it wants to let its competitor do the research before it releases its own system minus the problems.

Sometime next year, Vodafone subscribers in Australia can expect to taste the sweet fruit of mobile payments, which comes thanks to the carrier’s partnership with Visa. Computerworld Australia reports that Vodafone SmartPass is currently being tested on Android phones in the land down under, which relies on an NFC-enabled SIM card. It’s also said that the carrier plans to introduce a Windows Phone app, although it has no intention of developing a solution for iOS, which is due to the iPhone’s lack of NFC. While mobile payments still remains a mere pipe dream for many, it’s said that Vodafone will eventually bundle the SmartPass app on all smartphones that support NFC. Unfortunately, the technology may remain cumbersome, as it’ll require users to load currency into a prepaid account for use — something Google has already kicked to the curb. If you’ll recall, Vodafone first announced its initiative with Visa in February of this year, although at the time, it was said that only a few European counties would make the initial cut. To learn more about what Vodafone has in store for its Aussie constituency, feel free to hit up the source link.

Rogers kicked off Canadian NFC mobile payments at the start of the month through what was mostly a ceremonial gesture — until the CIBC app arrived, locals simply had to wait. It’s at last time try some Suretap mobile shopping now that the CIBC Mobile Payment App has popped up in BlackBerry App World. As promised, the title will let Canucks tap to pay with a credit card (up to $50 at once) at the 17 store chains offering use of a MasterCard PayPass or Visa PayWave terminal. The catch remains the sheer number of conditions that need to be in place: on top of requiring an NFC-aware SIM card, a CIBC credit card and the right stores, the early software only works its magic with the BlackBerry Bold 9900; Curve 9380 support depends on a future update. Having the crucial app is still a step forward, and the handful of trailblazers can always recount tales of buying Timbits with their Bolds while those on other platforms have to sit tight until 2013.

After yesterday’s excitement about a possible physical Google Wallet card, it’s becoming more obvious by the day that Google is taking mobile payments seriously. To make Google Wallet an overall better experience, they are revamping how Wallet works on mobile websites, which has never been a good experience up until now. Google has added in a button that [...]

Rogers and its banking partner CIBC have been making much ado over bringing NFC mobile payments to Canada since the spring, but the companies have been mostly silent on actual availability and let a rumored October 15th launch date pass by without fanfare. The two partners are at last ready to swing into action, at least symbolically — a photo-op at a Tim Hortons in Toronto on Friday will officially represent the first instance of their payment system being used in the wild. What we’ve seen officially and otherwise hasn’t changed, which means that event star and triathlete Simon Whitfield will be using one of two NFC-equipped BlackBerry phones with a special SIM card while he buys a meal that we imagine involves coffee and maple-glazed donuts. Rogers hasn’t said how soon the less sporty among us will be making payments, although the limited choices of phones (two) and carriers (one) will only give a handful of Canucks a chance to join in.

Update: Just as Whitfield’s coffee is cooling off, Rogers has given out full details: the CIBC mobile payment option will roll out later in the month to at least 2,300 Tim Hortons restaurants across Canada, with 3,000 more joining in by December. It’s called Suretap, as the earlier leak confirmed, and there’s no surprise support for Android, Windows Phone or other platforms.

Square's mobile point of purchase system has expanded beyond the U.S. into Canada today, marking their first step into international markets. Though Square didn't advertise any particular launch partners up north, they do have free headphone jack fobs available for small businesses to start accepting credit card payments on whatever Android devices they happen to be using. Transaction fees are 2.75% per MasterCard or Visa swipe, which is apparently pretty competitive.

Unfortunately, Square Wallet isn't available to Canada just yet, but will be arriving in 2013. The app will enable users to pay for goods, use loyalty cards, get receipts, and leave reviews for businesses. Although Square tends to be lumped in with iOS, their Android app has been available for a couple of years now. I'm interested in seeing if Square hops on the NFC bandwagon at some point, but for the time being, I'm sure they do reasonably well just dealing with Visa and Mastercard. It would be great to see some Interac support eventually, too.

Hey Americans, how often do you see Square in use in businesses? Should we feel screwed that Square Wallet isn't available right out of the gate? Keep in mind that we still don't have Google Wallet up here, or even anything like Isis, so this may be the best thing we can get for mobile payments for the immediate future. Any Canadian business owners interested in giving this a shot? You can sign up over here.

If you’ve been closely watching the development of Isis Mobile Wallet, you’ll be pleased to know that the service launched in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas today. Even better is the news that nine handsets are supporting Isis from the start, so you’ve got some options when it comes to picking an Isis-ready phone. Since Isis is a team up between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, all you need to do is stop in at one of their stores and pick up your Isis-supported handset (provided you live in Salt Lake City or Austin, of course).

Along with the nine Isis-supported handsets that are available today, 11 more should be launching in next couple of months, meaning that there will be 20 Isis-ready phones by the end of the year. That certainly isn’t bad, and it shows that the people behind Isis are serious about getting the service supported. They’re going to need that support too, as Isis will be going head-to-head with Google Wallet.

Of course, the fact that your phone supports Isis doesn’t much matter if there aren’t any retailers that actually let you pay with the service. Luckily, the announcement today claims that there are “hundreds” of locations around Austin and Salt Lake City that are ready to accept your Isis payment – a full list of retailers can be found at the official Isis site. Isis will work with your American Express, Capital One, or Chase credit cards, and you’ll even get a $10 Isis card when you activate your wallet. You’ll get another $15 on the house when you make the Isis card reloadable (presumably by putting more money on it).

The Isis launch will definitely be exciting for some, but so far, mobile payments are having a hard time winning over consumers. Perhaps with this Isis push and the “rise” of Google Wallet, more consumers will begin adopting mobile as a way to pay for their purchases? We personally love the idea, but we’ll have to wait and see if it takes off with mainstream consumers. Stay tuned.

Isis launched its mobile payments platform in Salt Lake City, UT and Austin, TX today, in a limited, initial rollout that’s probably best viewed as a tech test more than an NFC payments panacea. We’ve know for quite some time that these would be Isis’ launch markets (after numerous delays), and we also has a basic idea of how the system would work: NFC. What wasn’t so widely-known is the fact that Isis uses the SIM secure element method to store payment credentials.

This is in contrast to Google Wallet’s method, where your virtual MasterCard (used as the medium through which your payments are processed) is stored in a secure element that is typically included as a part of the NFC chip.

It’s a big day for mobile payments. Multiple former Nokia Money veterans have formally launched iKaaz, a two-pronged strategy to phone commece where choice is the order of the day. The first components, M-POS and its accompanying Tap & Pay, are rough equivalents to familiar NFC-based services like Google Wallet that rely on an NFC tag and matching app for in-store sales. A Consumer Wallet for Enterprises occupies more familiar territory for the ex-Nokia crew: it provides a mobile account that doesn’t require NFC or even an app, letting those in developing countries exchange funds through SMS or USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) if they’re sporting basic handsets. Us end users will need to wait for actual implementations before we see iKaaz for ourselves, but the sheer flexibility could have us paying through our phones in some unexpected places.

Today the folks from ISIS have actually confirmed the October 22nd launch date for their mobile payment system. After multiple tips, leaks, and rumors suggested it was coming soon today they’ve made it official. After multiple delays ISIS will finally launch on October 22nd in two test cities. Those being Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas.

We clearly saw this coming after yesterday’s T-Mobile ISIS app launched early in the Play Store, not to mention leaks on Verizon have been pegging the same October 22nd release date. For those not fully sure what ISIS is, it’s a NFC mobile payment system similar to Google Wallet. Using built-in NFC chips, and NFC capable SIM and SD cards to make purchases nationwide. Well, nationwide once ISIS payments are accepted in more locations like MasterCard and Paypass.

T-Mobile recently released a blog post, detailing a few things they have planned for ISIS payments, and we’ll surely be hearing more from the three main carriers on board soon. Those being Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Sadly Google Wallet currently only works on the Now Network. While I wish Google Wallet would be accepted by all carriers, it looks like that won’t be happening any time soon unfortunately.

Today we didn’t get specific details, but ISIS states we can expect “as many as 20″ different ISIS capable devices by the end of the year. That certainly is better than the few from Google. Paypal is aiming to offer something similar, but so far ISIS looks to be in the best position to make things happen since they’ve got 3 major carriers and multiple hardware partners all on board. Hopefully we see and hear more about “ISIS Ready” systems and smartphones soon.

The ISIS Mobile Wallet solution and competitor of Google Wallet has apparently launched a bit premature this afternoon. We’ve been hearing rumors and reports suggesting ISIS will launch for T-Mobile on October 22nd, but today the T-Mobile specific version has landed in the Google Play Store.

With only one carrier having full support for Google Wallet, ISIS is here to help out the folks on Verizon, AT&T, and of course T-Mobile. We haven’t heard much from the mobile payments company as of late, but the leaks have slowly been appearing. This was originally supposed to kick off late this summer and even in September but that never happened.

We’ve been seeing ISIS appear in recent updates from both T-Mobile and Verizon, and both are supposed to be starting a limited test period later this month if rumors are correct. T-Mobile recently went on record detailed what they’ll do with ISIS and NFC payment solutions. Then Verizon’s DROID Incredible 4G received an update with ISIS support.

So far the T-Mobile branded ISIS Mobile Wallet app that is available right now won’t be of much use. You’ll need a T-Mobile SIM that has NFC support, a NFC and ISIS capable device, and of course a retail store that accepts ISIS instead of Paypass. T-Mobile offers the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, and the Amaze 4G with NFC capabilities just to name a few. We should be hearing some official statements from both T-Mobile and ISIS sometime soon so stay tuned if you’re interested in mobile commerce.

ISIS, the mobile payments platform we’ve been hearing about for months, is finally going to launch on October 22 of this year. Well, it’s not a full launch, more like a pilot to test the service, but it’s still a step in the right direction for sure. A leaked image of what looks like a T-Mobile internal document posted by TmoNews clearly shows that they plan to have this app hit Google Play on the 22nd.

Of course, there are some requirements to be able to use this new mobile wallet program. First of all, you will need to have a T-Mobile device with an ISIS SIM card. Only certain devices are supported for the time being. You will also need to own a Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S II, or Relay 4G to be able to use the NFC payment system.

As is the case with most pilot programs, it will only launch in a few major markets, and then it will roll out to other places in time. The initial markets for this program are Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas. As this rolls out to other markets, it could be a huge success and put T-Mobile at the forefront of mobile payments. Only time will tell.

One thing to note, is that the screenshot specifically mentions that devices using ISIS cannot be rooted. We do not know if that is something that can be worked around, but at this point, it looks like your device will need a clean install to use ISIS. As always, we will keep you posted with news on ISIS as it gets closer to launching in its initial test markets.